I visited northern Laos in 2013. Speaking to people along the construction route, many didn't even know what a train was. None had ever seen one before. I only

I visited northern Laos in 2013. Speaking to people along the construction route, many didn't even know what a train was. None had ever seen one before. I only saw a single paved road in the country, which I hitchhiked on from the Chinese border to Luang Prabang. Most drivers on the road were Chinese, but none were coming to visit Laos; they were driving through to Thailand. So I came to understand this train was built to connect Thailand and China, rather than for Laos.